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Section E [email protected] Newsday A 19-Day Journey Through India / Page E6 Newsday Photo / Bryn Nelson T RAVEL T RAVEL ITINERARIES Sunday, Oct. 12, 2003 There’s a staggering sense of discovery and surprise in a country filled with ruins, nature reserves and exotic wildlife P A G E S E 8 - 9

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Page 1: Newsday RAVEL ITINERARIES A 19-Day Journey · rare and beautiful creatures all around us. On our boat trip to Lamanai, our guide Vin-cent and his young sons revealed a camou-flaged

SectionE

[email protected]

Newsday

A 19-DayJourneyThroughIndia / Page E6

Newsday Photo / Bryn Nelson

TRAVELTRAVEL ITINERARIES

Sunday, Oct. 12, 2003

There’s a staggering sense of discovery and surprise in a countryfilled with ruins, nature reserves and exotic wildlife

P A G E S E 8 - 9

Page 2: Newsday RAVEL ITINERARIES A 19-Day Journey · rare and beautiful creatures all around us. On our boat trip to Lamanai, our guide Vin-cent and his young sons revealed a camou-flaged

By Bryn NelsonSTAFF WRITER

Like so much elsein the jungle, therain betrayed itspresence with anabundance ofnoise. With adistant whisper-ing, a rustling ofleaves, and thena growing ruffle,it swept acrossthe forest canopyand descended

upon us with a whoosh.One voice among many in the heart of

Belize.My travel companion and I had come to this

Central American country for an eight-day jun-gle-to-coast adventure trip the travel guideslike to call “turf and surf.” Roughly the size ofMassachusetts, Belize features a wealth ofMayan ruins, nature reserves and exotic wild-life — all within reach of the magnificentMayan city at Tikal to the west and the longestbarrier reef in the Americas to the east. Thetorrent of sights and sounds greeting us in lit-tle more than a week left a lasting impressionthat most overdeveloped destinations couldnever hope to offer: a staggering sense of dis-covery and surprise.

Our introduction to the jungle arrived at the

small but impressive Belize Zoo, situ-ated along the Western Highway lead-ing to the Cayo District of Belize.Widely considered the best in CentralAmerica, the Belize Zoo puts a decid-edly Caribbean spin on the idea of na-ture preserves, with cheeky hand-let-tered wooden signs gently urging visi-tors (“Yes mon”) to conserve the coun-try’s native fauna.

A beautiful spotted jaguar affection-ately licked its black mate in one ofthe clever jungle enclosures. A Mo-relet’s crocodile lazed in another,while spider monkeys and howlermonkeys tumbled amid enclosed tree-tops. But perhaps the most interest-ing animal was the Baird’s tapir, anungainly looking creature somewherebetween an undersized elephant andan overgrown anteater. The largestanimal in the neotropics, it is also among themost endangered.

Despite our early orientation, the foreign lan-guage of the jungle nearly overwhelmed us,both at Tikal in neighboring Guatemala and ona later expedition through the crocodile-infested New River to Belize’s Mayan ruins atLamanai. With every blur of color in the canopy,with every unfamiliar call, we fumbled for ourbinoculars and wildlife book, struggling to keepup with the kaleidoscope of color and sound.

Emerald toucanettes. Red-lored parrots.

Purple gallinules. And keel-billed toucans.Our tour guides delighted in pointing out therare and beautiful creatures all around us.On our boat trip to Lamanai, our guide Vin-cent and his young sons revealed a camou-flaged Northern potoo bird and a smallcolony of greater white-lined bats hidden in abullet tree. And Ruben, our guide at Tikal,proudly informed us that the Guatemalanpark harbors 385 bird species in all.

At Tikal, we sought shelter from a briefdownpour under a thatched roof, where

Ruben pointed out the huge carved face of thegod Chac — the Mayan god of rain. A silentidol surrounded by a flood of correspondingsound seemed appropriate for a city whosename means “Place of the Voices.”

The name proved particularly apt. Along ajungle path, we heard an otherworldly roarthat began like a rusty gate and ended likean angry seal. After scrambling up a hillsideafter Ruben, we were rewarded by the sightof a small band of howler monkeys in thecrook of a tree, baby in tow.

Not to be outdone, the temples and pyra-mids of Tikal harbored voices of their own.Ruben demonstrated the remarkable acous-tics of one pyramid by clapping his hands andcreating a surprisingly loud ping. The effectallowed a Mayan king to address his subjectsfrom the pyramid’s heights, and we clam-bered up the rough steps to hear for our-selves.

Another trail led to Temple IV, the highest

See BELIZE on E13

By Bryn NelsonSTAFF WRITER

In 1981, Francis Ford Coppola wassearching for a tropical paradise to re-mind him of the Filipino setting for hisfilm “Apocalypse Now.” What he foundwas a neglected lodge in the beautiful

but remote pine-studded hills of westernBelize — a place he intended to transforminto a private writing retreat.

Fortunately for travelers to Belize, Cop-pola instead transformed the property intoone of that country’s most luxurious re-sorts. For three nights, we reveled in ourown thatched-roof bungalow at his Blanca-neaux Lodge, a lushly landscaped propertythat straddles the Privassion River in thewestern district of Cayo, about a45-minute drive from San Ignacio.

Beautifully maintained gardens sur-round 10 bungalows and seven two-bed-room villas strung along the river, thelatter designed by Mexican architectManolo Mestre to provide an open-airconnection to the jungle and river be-yond (daily dual-occupancy rates rangefrom $120 to $330 in the summer andfrom $200 to $425 during the peak sea-son, Dec. 20-Jan. 3 and April 8-12,without food).

The interior of our bungalow featuredhandiwork by local artisans and combinedAsian and Central American touches, withan open Japanese bath and fabrics and an-tiques from Guatemala and Mexico.

The extensively renovated mainlodge features the inviting Jaguar Bar,where we indulged in Belize’s famousrum punch and a Belikin, the nationalbeer of choice. The highlight, though,was the well-appointed dining room,where we savored Coppola’s Italian rec-ipes infused with a Central Americanflair. My favorites were the shrimpceviche, plantain soup with cumin andcilantro, and margherita pizza made inone of only two wood-burning pizza

ovens in the entire country (Coppolaowns the other one as well).

The lodge has opted for self-sufficiencywhile trying to maintain an environmen-tally friendly approach. A three-acre organ-ic garden supplies all of the fruits and vege-tables for the restaurant, while a small hy-droelectric plant harnesses the PrivassionRiver for all of the electricity while supply-ing heated water as a by-product for thenewly opened outdoor hot tub.

The lodge even has its own airstrip forvisitors wishing to bypass the notoriouslybumpy secondary road leading to thelodge from Belize’s Western Highway,though we enjoyed the freedom of havinga rental car.

Although we set out on our own, thelodge offers a bounty of tour packages,horseback riding, mountain biking, canoe-ing and caving. The final morning of ourstay, we hiked an hour along a sunny, liz-ard-populated trail leading from the lodgeto Big Rock Falls, where we picked our waydown the rocks and swam in the warmpools below the falls, reminded again thatwe were someplace extraordinary.!

At top, April, a Baird’s tapir, at the Belize Zoo,considered the best in Central America. Left, themouth of the Mayan cave, Actun Tunichal Muknal.Above, The Split, a hurricane-formed breach thatdivides Caye Caulker and created a swimming hole.

ON THE COVER: Palm trees and colorful guesthouseson Caye Caulker.

Newsday Photos / Bryn Nelson

Lamanai

San Ignacio

Belmopan

HONDURAS

MEXICO

BELIZE

Tikal

TikalNationalPark

CAYO

AmbergrisCaye

CayeCaulker

San Pedro

0 MILES 100

Gulf ofHonduras

Belize City

GUATEMALA

Caribbean Sea

BELIZE

Newsday / Philip Dionisio

Orange Walk

Rive

r

New

COVER STORY

GodfatherOf the Jungle

Newsday Photos / Bryn Nelson

A larger guest villa, top, at BlancaneauxLodge; bottom, a thatch-roofed guestbungalow features local artisans’ work.

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Page 3: Newsday RAVEL ITINERARIES A 19-Day Journey · rare and beautiful creatures all around us. On our boat trip to Lamanai, our guide Vin-cent and his young sons revealed a camou-flaged

known building in pre-Columbian America. Fromour breathtaking vantage at its apex, we surveyedthe stone-gray ruins jutting from the lush jungle can-opy of orange-berried ramon trees, pink-blossomedmatilisguate trees and enormous mahoganies.

And of course, the towering ceibas, with theirlimbs strung with bromeliads and stretched out be-fore us like fanciful umbrellas. The Maya veneratedthe sacred ceiba as a world-tree that linked the 13heavens, the earth, and the nine levels of the under-world with its canopy and roots.

If the ceiba canopies reached the heavens by theMayan pyramids, we would find their mythic roots tothe underworld in a remarkable cave.

The morning after our side-trip to Tikal, we sleepi-ly left the comforts of our resort, Blancaneaux Lodge,and met four other travelers and a guide in the townof San Ignacio. By lunchtime, we had crisscrossed aswollen creek and wound our way through Belize’s re-mote Tapir Mountain Nature Reserve with our bare-foot, machete-wielding guide, Carlos.

And then we saw our real destination: the mouthof a cave known as Actun Tunichal Muknal.

Few guidebooks talk about the place whose namemeans “Cave of the Crystal Sepulchre,” and only afew tour operators are permitted to take smallgroups there due to conservation concerns. Nor is iteasy to reach, and entering it requires you to wear aheadlamp while swimming across a small pool at thecave’s mouth. But the day I spent in the cave ranksas one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

It was in caves like this where the meeting of thecrystalline stalactites and stalagmites completed theconnection of the ceiba tree roots to the Mayan godsof the underworld. As we sloshed along the river flow-ing through the cave, Carlos told us about how theMaya hiked the same route with their flickeringtorches for ancient rituals and offerings. We turnedoff our headlamps to look back at the cave entrance,where the sunlit rock wall to the left had taken onthe appearance of a Mayan woman.

We stopped again and listened in wonderment aswe heard the distant murmur of what seemed likehuman voices. Carlos said the Maya likely heard thesame sounds of water gurgling in the distance andimagined them to be the whispering of the gods.

We filed through a narrow keyhole in the rock,past cathedral-sized rooms of pure white flowstoneand sparkling stalactites, past cave crickets and batsand scorpion spiders perched on the damp walls. Car-los coaxed us over a ledge covered in a waterfall of flow-

stone, and then told us to remove our shoes.We were walking on holy ground. He led us on a nar-

row trail with so many broken pots on either side thatwe had to follow his footsteps to avoid stepping onthem. Most had contained food for ritual offerings, andmost remained where they had been left by the Mayabetween AD 700 and 900.

We turned off our lamps again, and clicked themback on to reveal a human skull, one of 14 known sacri-ficial victims left in the cave to appease the gods. Somehad flattened foreheads and filed teeth filled with jadeplugs — Mayan signs of beauty. A metal ladder provid-ed access to a small chamber and another lastingimage: the completely calcified skeleton of a young sac-rificial victim known as the princess.

I felt humbled to be in this living museum, this store-house of Mayan history, and we hiked back a bit quiet-er than before.

The next day, we embarked on the “surf” portion ofour trip by driving to the coast and catching a watertaxi from Belize City to the island of Caye Caulker.The best-known Belizean island is arguably Amber-gris Caye and its town of San Pedro, sometimes re-ferred to interchangeably. San Pedro has a reputationas a miniature Cancun, however, so we opted for CayeCaulker, a favorite destination of backpackers with itslaid-back, friendly Caribbean feel.

Caye Caulker isn’t for everyone, but we instant-ly felt like we had made the right choice. Our cot-tage at Shirley’s Guest House opened onto thebeach, and from the porch we shared with somelizards, we had a perfect view of little blue and tri-color herons posing against the aquamarine of theCaribbean Sea, two of about 90 bird species wewould spot on the trip.

The ocean beckoned, and after a day of relaxing wefound the perfect guide, a lifelong island residentnamed Juni, who leads environmentally friendly sail-ing and snorkeling trips to the marine reserve and bar-rier reef near the island.

Once in the water, I felt like a weightless observer insome giant aquarium, snorkeling above a sea of beauti-ful green brain coral with its mazelike patterns, ofelkhorn coral and delicate purple sea fans. With somany different kinds of tropical fish, I soon lost trackand simply let the colors swim by me.

A nurse shark whose family had “adopted” Juni, agroup of Southern stingrays, and even a green morayeel swam around our guide like an old friend. For an af-ternoon, we too were part of the circle.

As we set sail for the return trip to Caye Caulker,our minds reeling and the wind tousling our hair, Ifound myself at a loss for words to describe all that Ihad heard and seen, and simply let the view aroundme speak for itself. !

BELIZE from E8

An Environmental Eyeful of BelizeCOVER STORY

THE BASICS. High season in Belize is between No-vember and April, during which time the weatheris typically hot and humid. You will need a validpassport for both Belize and Guatemala. With theexception of petty theft, Belize is generally consid-ered safe outside of Belize City, though extra cau-tion is warranted in Guatemala due to recent prob-lems; organized tours to Tikal may be the best op-tion for some travelers. Belize harbors an eclecticethnic diversity, with Creole, Latin, Maya, Garifu-na (Black Caribbean), and Mennonite influences.English is the official language and widely spo-ken, although a basic understanding of Spanishwill come in handy in San Ignacio and at the bor-der crossing in Guatemala if you’re not travelingwith a group. The Belizen dollar is fixed at 50cents U.S., and prices are higher than in Guatema-la and other Central American countries. Bankswill gladly change money during business hours,but most ATMS do not accept American debit orcredit cards for cash advances. Belize’s TourismBoard maintains a good informational site atwww.travelbelize.orgGETTING THERE. Philip Goldson International Air-port outside of Belize City is reachable from New-ark and LaGuardia airports by American Airlinesconnecting through Miami, by Continental Air-lines connecting through Houston, or by US Air-ways connecting through Charlotte, N.C.GETTING AROUND. Belize has a surprisingly depend-able bus system that connects all of the majortowns, especially in the northern part of the coun-try, and taxis will take you to and from the air-port. The best way to access the preserves, parks,and more remote towns, however, is by rental car.It’s good to reserve a car ahead of time, and a vehi-cle with four-wheel drive is highly recommendedsince few of the secondary roads are paved andare notoriously bumpy. Check with rental compa-

nies on insurance restrictions for driving to Tikalin Guatemala. On the coast, water taxis run on aregular schedule from Belize City to Caye Caulk-er and San Pedro. A faster boat called the Thun-derbolt will shave off some time, but will cost youmore.ACCOMMODATIONS. Guide books are the best sourcehere. “The Rough Guide to Belize” and “LonelyPlanet’s Belize” are helpful. Prices below are pernight, double:

Blancaneaux Lodge in the Cayo District:$120-$425; www.blancaneaux.com; 800-PINE-RIDGE.

Shirley’s Guest House on Caye Caulker:$40-$80, www.shirleysguesthouse.com; 011-501-226-0145.

St. Christopher’s Hotel in Orange Walk:$30-$45, 011-501-322-2420.

Colton House in Belize City: $65-$75, www.coltonhouse.com; 011-501-203-4666.TOUR GUIDES. Most large resorts will offer tourpackages to nearby ruins and parks, but indepen-dent travelers can readily find good tour guides inplaces like Cayo, Orange Walk, and Caye Caulk-er, though you will still pay a fair amount (Fortwo of us, four day tours cost about $340 U.S. inall). Guides at Tikal can be arranged by the ven-dor’s stalls near the visitors’ center. The mam-moth park can’t possibly be covered in a day, sotell your guide what interests you the most, espe-cially if your time is limited.WHAT TO BRING. Good walking shoes and lightclothes. Binoculars and wildlife books if youenjoy observing nature, as it is bountiful in Bel-ize. “The Ecotravellers’ Wildlife Guide: Belizeand Northern Guatemala” was a helpful basicintroduction, though far from complete. Bugspray, since Belize has plenty of biting insects.

— Bryn Nelson

Newsday Photo / Bryn Nelson

Shacks share the beach with newer accommodations in Belize’s laid-back and quirky island retreat of Caye Caulker.

INFORMATION, PLEASE

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